Singapore: Copper prices advanced on Monday, after data from China showed higher unwrought copper imports in March, while declining inventories, concerns over a supply deficit and hopes of a resolution to the US-China trade row also lent support.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.1% to $6,487 a tonne by 0747 GMT, while the most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended up 0.4% at ¥49,400 ($7,367.86) a tonne.

China imported 391,000 tonnes of unwrought copper last month, up 25.7% from the previous month and 26.5% higher than a year earlier, data released on Friday showed.

China's March copper concentrate imports were also higher than the year-ago levels, at 1.77 million tonnes, but down from an unusually strong February. "This squashed any concerns over soft demand post the Chinese New Year holiday. Sentiment was further boosted by strong credit and monetary data," ANZ said in a note.

Fundamentals

Las Bambas: Chinese miner MMG Ltd said that Las Bambas mine in Peru has progressively restored critical supplies and increased staffing levels over last week after indigenous communities ended a more than two-month blockade of a key highway.

Stocks: Copper stocks in LME-approved warehouses fell for a third straight day, by 2,000 tonnes to 192,425 tonnes, according to exchange data released on Friday, while copper inventories in warehouses tracked by the ShFE fell 5% from a week ago to 245,178 tonnes.

Trade: US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday a US-China trade agreement would go "way beyond" previous efforts to open China's markets to US companies and hoped that the two sides were "close to the final round" of negotiations.

Arizona: Rio Tinto Ltd said it would invest an extra $302 million to develop its Resolution copper project in the US state of Arizona, as it looks to expands output to meet the lucrative market for new energy vehicles.

Anto: Copper will face more disruptions this year than in 2018, as labour strife, extreme weather and unexpected project delays will knock as much as a million tonnes off 2019 production, Chilean miner Antofagasta's chief executive said.

Trafi/Nyrstar: Swiss-based global commodities trader Trafigura is set to take control of Belgian metals producer Nyrstar after agreeing a financial restructuring with its creditors.

China economy: China's first-quarter economy growth likely cooled to the weakest pace in at least 27 years, a Reuters poll showed, but a flurry of measures to boost domestic demand may have put a floor under slowing activity in March.